The City of Cleveland recently opened a pop-up park at the North Coast Yard to increase access to the lakefront.
The space sits on a city-owned lot north of Huntington Bank Field, next to the Steamship Mather. The city announced plans for the yard in March, while a kick-off celebration was held June 14. Programming and events, including live music and cultural celebrations, will run through September.
The yard features picnic tables, space for food trucks, a weekend bar, basketball courts and a skate park — all with pristine views of Lake Erie and the Cleveland skyline.
The assembly of the space has rested on the shoulders of dozens of volunteers, including Travis Monroe and Dave Shaheen. The pair spent a recent hot afternoon painting ramps to prepare the skate park for lessons.
Shaheen, who teaches at Davis Aerospace & Maritime High School, said his engineering students assisted in the construction of the skate park's ramps. He started an after-school skate club at the school, which has introduced students to Cleveland's skate scene, he said. Some of the students will be teaching lessons at the pop-up park during the summer.
Monroe is the founder of Advocate Skateworks, a nonprofit that aims to increase access to skateboarding by providing boards, gear and programming to those in need. Monroe said he worked with Cleveland's North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation to bring lessons and board rentals to the yard.
Skateboarders of any skill level can take lessons on Fridays or borrow a board to practice their tricks.
Monroe hopes the yard's central location will make skateboarding more accessible. Many Northeast Ohio skate parks are located in the suburbs, so this location close to the city's public transit stops is beneficial for people interested in joining Cleveland's skateboard culture and community, he said.
"It's accessible by bus, by train, you could get here on the Rapid and it's a short walk or skate or bike ride from Tower City," Monroe said.
Cleveland's soccer community also hopes to use the space to become more accessible, said Noah Toumert, who founded Ohio City Soccer Club. The club hosts free pick-up futsal — or street soccer — on Monday evenings on the yard's basketball courts.
"The point is to activate these spaces," said Toumert, who also leads the Cleveland Pro Soccer Foundation. "Soccer is the world's game for a reason, so just bring appropriate shoes for a blacktop — your flats — and water and a good attitude, and you'll have a blast."
The goal is to take advantage of the communal space and open soccer up to all who want to play, especially in a city that is underrepresented when it comes to soccer infrastructure, Toumert said.
"When you look at our soccer infrastructure, it is a suburban ring around the city," he said. "To have spaces like this and to have some intention into turning parking lots into places to play is incredibly important."
The North Coast Yard is the first part of Cleveland's North Coast Master Plan. The city raised more than $150 million for longer-term lakefront development, said Scott Skinner, executive director of the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation. Construction on that project is "still years away," he said.
